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A car or automobile is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for between one and six people, typically have four wheels and be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. This definition includes cars and smaller SUVs - but not motorcycles, buses, trucks or vans. The term automobile is derived from Greek auto- ("self") and Latin 'mobilis' ("movable"), referring to the fact that it "moves by itself".

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The Mini Moke is a vehicle based on the Mini and designed for the British Motor Corporation (BMC) by Sir Alec Issigonis. The name comes from "Mini"—the car with which the Moke shares many parts—and "Moke", which is an archaic dialect term for "donkey".

The initial design was a prototype for a light military vehicle in the style of the American Jeep, but its small wheels and low ground clearance made it impractical as an off-road vehicle. It was subsequently offered in a civilian version as a low-cost, easily maintained utility vehicle. The Moke finally achieved success as a beach buggy — becoming a popular 'cult' vehicle in the Seychelles, Australia, the United States and many tropical resorts in the Caribbean. The original Moke used identical engine, transmission and suspension parts to the basic Mini.

Mokes were first built at BMC's Longbridge, Birmingham plant, but production was soon moved overseas. 14,500 Mokes were produced in the UK between 1964 and 1968, 26,000 in Australia between 1966 and 1981, and 10,000 in Portugal between 1980 and 1993 when production of the Moke ended. (more...)

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2004 GMC Sierra 1500

Did you know...

...that the racing version of the Dauer 962 Le Mans, winner of 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans, is a roadcar converted from a Porsche 962 racecar, which dominated Le Mans, Group C and IMSA during the 1980s.
...that the 25 Millionth VW Golf rolled off the production line in Wolfsburg in March 2007. The first Golf started production in 1974, 33 years later the 1.4 litre TSI version became the 25 Millionth car.
...that the nearly identical Ford Model T engines were produced for exactly 12,000 days, making this the longest-produced engine?
...that the first production turbocharged cars were General Motors' A-body 1962 Chevrolet Corvair and Oldsmobile F-85?
...that Jeep introduced the 1993 Grand Cherokee and 2007 Wrangler in the same way — by driving them through a plate glass window?
...that a small number of Renault 20s, badged as Dacia 2000, were made in the 1980s by Dacia in Romania for Romanian communist dignitaries of that time?
...that the Autobianchi Primula was the Fiat's first automobile with the front-wheel drive, transverse engine setup and rack and pinion steering?
...that the Plymouth Sundance is a liftback, even though the outside appearance might suggest that it is a sedan?

Main categories

Category:Automobiles

Car news

Ford Motor Company announced the sales of its Jaguar and Land Rover operations

2008-03-26

March 26, 2008 Ford made an announcement its agreement to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Indian car maker Tata Motors. The total price is around US $2.3 billion in cash. Lewis Booth, executive vice president, Ford Motor Company says "This is a good agreement".

Source: [1]

Selected biography

Nicolaus Otto

Nikolaus August Otto (June 14, 1832 Holzhausen, Nassau - January 26, 1891 Cologne) was the German inventor of the internal-combustion engine, the first engine to burn fuel directly in a piston chamber. Up until his invention, all engines were external-combustion engines and fuel was burned in a separate compartment.

In 1864, Otto co-founded an engine manufacturing business in Cologne. Along with his business partner Eugen Langen he established “N.A. Otto & Cie.”. This company exists today as “Deutz AG”, who boasts the fact that they are the world's oldest engine manufacturers, with over 140 years of experience. (more...)

On this day September 5

2006 — William Clay Ford, Jr. turns over Ford Motor Company's CEO job to Alan Mulally

Selected quote

Our mission is to offer the top performance sportscar manufactured legal for US roads. The sport in sportscar is motorsports, and in our case that means racing at road courses that include Daytona, Sebring, Road America, Watkin's Glen, Laguna Seca, Three Rivers, Homestead, and the like.

My cars are designed to be capable of the lowest lap times of any car manufactured US legal on tracks like these. The development process includes extensive racing at the professional level, where performance and durability are enhanced and demonstrated

—Warren Mosler